After my air appointment today, it was nearly 1:30 and I was starved. Next door is Just Rennie’s, a much welcomed new eatery that is owned by Doug Rennie and his wife. They offer catering, cookies, and lunches.

Today, there was a private party in the banquet room, so I only saw the “Cookies” part of their building. It is very small, but inviting all the same. There is a display case that offers up the lunch fare in bowls and platters, next to it is a table simply covered in various types of cookies and brownies. This all is very near to the door, but I wish that they would push it back just a bit, because when I was there with just 5 people in line, being in the back, I felt very smashed. There aren’t tables in this area, I think the idea is that most people are coming from downtown offices and are either going to eat it back in their office or on the river. Behind the counter, you see all their baking supplies as well as a few people baking. It is very much an “open operation” in a sense.

It’s not a place that offers a wide variety, but what it offers it specializes in. I had chicken salad on a steak house roll with a side of fruit salad and pasta salad. The chicken salad was simple-mayonnaise based with celery and dill. I’m not a fan of dill, but I was really surprised at how great it tasted and the quality and preparation of the chicken was outstanding (I am very picky about eating chicken). I was worried the roll would be hard, but it was nice and soft. The pasta salad was penne with a light pesto dressing with a few cherry tomatoes. The fruit salad consisted of large pieces of grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple-all of it was perfectly ripe and juicy.

Other offerings include ham, turkey, roast beef, or club wraps or steak house rolls. There is also a curry chicken salad (which I hear is delicious for even people who are not curry fans) and tuna salad. Other sides are red potato salad and tomato-cucumber salad. They also offer 4 salads such as the Mixed Greens with chicken or Southern Belle salad.

I mentioned there was a table covered in cookies and brownies, and I’m happy to report that Just Rennie’s also specializes in this. The cookies are big and thick, as are the brownies. I got 8 cookies and a brownie bowl-a brownie bowl! The cookies they offer are the peanut butter chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chunk, double chocolate chunk, chocolate chunk walnut, white chocolate pecan, peanut butter, double chocolate chunk, and “Chef Doug’s gourmet” (chocolate, walnuts, cinnamon). They also offer brownies, blondies, and brownie bowls.

Just Rennie’s is a very welcome addition to downtown Evansville. Everything I had was delicious, I couldn’t get enough, and yet, there was enough that I wasn’t able to finish. My meal (including steak house roll sandwich and two sides cost $6. 95, which I think is very reasonable for the quality of the food. Although there is no seating, that’s fine, the food is worth it, and I can enjoy it at home or the park. I hope you all go visit soon and support a local chef and his new business.

Just Rennie’s is located at 102 SE 4th St., Downtown. 812-490-8098. Tues-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat 10am-2pm.

After all the Kanpai talk in the Zuki comments this week, we decided to visit and bring a review to you ourselves.

The overall feel of Kanpai is “hole-in-the-wall.” You drive up to a little square building next to a “novelty store.” You walk in and see an Asian-style screen separating the door from the tables, but when you round the corner, the d’ecor goes to nothing. Not a bad thing, most delicious hole-in-the-walls are lacking in that aspect. Here, all you see is one room with a handful of plane tables and a sushi bar.

The menu is fairly large for the establishment and is mostly comprised of Japanese and Korean food. We all started out with an appetizer: miso soup, Kanpai salad, and seaweed salad. The Kanpai salad is quite reminiscent of the salad at Nagasaki. My friend and I opted to order sushi, while my father ordered an entr’ee. He and I ordered the Spicy Tuna Crunch, Salmon Skin Roll, Volcano Roll, and Philadelphia roll. There has been some debate over the size of the Kanpai rolls, and this time I found it mixed. The Volcano and Spicy Tuna were on the rather large size, while the Philadelphia and Salmon Skin were smaller. My favorites were the Volcano Roll, which is warmed and topped with crab, and the Philadelphia. Both were nicely made and tasted exactly how they should. However, I wasn’t big on the Spicy Tuna or the Salmon Skin, normally two of my favorites, these had a very strong scallion taste that overpowered the sushi. My father ordered chicken chop chae. It came out as a extremely large serving of vegetables and chicken over rice, but I found it more like a stir fry than what I think of as chop chae. He did enjoy it, and could not finish such a large portion.

That night, there were three people working: the owner and two sushi chefs. Despite the lack of people in the restaurant, the service wasn’t very good. Part of this I think was the constant focus they had on the tv and choosing a channel-the tv is very distracting for them, but also towards trying to have a nice meal. Even though there were two other tables in there, it took nearly 10 minutes to be greeted-thank you tv.

Overall, if you aren’t interested in service and d’ecor, but just food, then this is a good find. The sushi is above average, though they go a little heavy on the scallion and tobiko. The entrees also are good and rather large portions. The food can get out to you pretty quickly, but everything in between is extremely slow-get a bottle of sake to help ease that pain. The prices can get a little high for dinner ($10-20), but the food proves worthy.

Kanpai is located at 4593 Washington Ave, across from E. Schnucks. (812) 471-7076. 11 am-2 pm; 5-9 pm, Mon-Thurs; 11 am-10 pm Fri; 3 pm-10 pm Sat, closed Sun.

Last week we reviewed the sushi portion of Zuki, and this week we bring you a small update about the restaurant. Last night we went back and visited the hibachi side of the restaurant. Most of the information about the restaurant can be found in last week’s review, so please see that if you haven’t already.

As stated before, the hibachi area is clearly defined and consists of 8 tables between two rooms. Just like Nagasaki, each grill seats eight customers, but these seem to have smaller grill spaces that give a more intimate feeling due to that factor. Also, these tables are of imitation black granite, giving a more stylish feel that suits the rest of the restaurant. The plates for the hibachi area are specially designed for Zuki, white with the Zuki logo on them: Zuki in quick black letters, with a red rising sun, and some characters. I again found the tacky, wooden, break apart chopsticks next to my plate.

The menu was split between ordering the entire entree, combos, or a la carte. Each menu offers meats such as steak, filet, chicken, teriyaki chicken, shrimp, salmon, and lobster. There was also one option that I forget the name of: apologies. It was a Japanese name and I saw a woman at the next table get: very very thin steak that was chopped and cooked with onions. Of course, there are combos to order that combine two of the various meat options. With these meals are served soup and salad, vegetables, and fried rice. The soup tastes exactly like Nagasaki’s soup, like a salty chicken broth, but the salad differs in the dressing, which seemed to be something of a mustard-ginger. The vegetables are zucchini, mushroom, onion, and broccoli.

Overall, the food was pretty good and I really liked how the flavors were more subdued than those at Nagasaki. Also, there was a touch less food. The chef did the regular tricks like tossing the knives, volcano onion, or fire. However, he also tried some new things and was much more engaged with the customers during everything he cooked. I think next time I am craving some good hibachi food I’ll come back to Zuki.

Zuki is located at 1448 N. Green River Rd., behind Rafferty’s. (812) 477-ZUKI. Mon-Sat 11am-2pm, 4pm-10pm; Sun 11am-9pm.

A new Japanese restaurant has recently opened in Evansville: Zuki Japanese Hibachi Grill & Sushi Lounge. Located behind Rafferty’s, where Wasabi used to be housed, sits a vibrant Zuki.

The interior of this new restaurants certainly fits an upscale, lounge-type atmosphere. You first notice the color: a vibrant red with black trim. Two rooms are situated with the hibachi style cooking, I believe it was 4 grill-tables per room. Separating the two rooms was a wall with two large glass windows that served to supply a calming zen effect to the customers—they were light blue glass with water pouring over them. The sushi portion of the restaurant was separated to the right with it’s own two seating areas. One was primarily the sushi bar where one can watch over the chef’s artistry while he prepares your sushi, or there was a half wall separating most the tables from the bar area. I saw several rooms down a hall that I presume are private party rooms.

The menu is not very large but covers the array from appetizers to hibachi entrees, to sushi dinners and sushi “a la carte.” Besides the most obvious cuisine here, they also offer noodles (udon, soba, and ramen) and a vast amount of appetizers—tempura, edamame, grilled squid, and much much more. Their appetizer portion of the menu is almost as large as the whole menu combined. We choose the special Zuki Fried Shrimp appetizer that came with five jumbo shrimp breaded in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) with a sweet yet slightly tart brown sauce drizzled over it—perhaps the house version of ponzu sauce? Ponzu or not, the sauce combined with those shrimp was delicious. We opted for sushi over hibachi that night and was seated against the half wall near the window—it was a nice spot with one exception, my chair partly stuck into the entry way of that section, giving me the feeling I was in the way.

With our ability to eat a lot of sushi, we ordered 3 rolls (Spicy Tuna, Yumy Yummy, and Volcano) and 4 nigiri (tuna, salmon, and snapper). The Spicy Tuna Roll was the “other” take on the style of making it. Instead of a slice of tuna in the roll with spicy sauce drizzled over it, it was tuna finely ground and mixed with an extremely spicy sauce, rolled, and topped with sesame seeds. This isn’t my favorite way of eating this roll since the texture comes across as so mushy, also, for me, it was way too spicy, and that’s not something I often say. The Yumy Yummy Roll was along the lines of mango, cucumber, avocado, and salmon (apologies, I can’t be for sure since I’m lacking a menu). This was really a soothing roll, nothing was over-powering. Finally, the Volcano Roll was tuna, avocado, and cream cheese rolled in rice with salmon on top and drizzled in a spicy orange sauce and the brown “ponzu” sauce. This was my favorite of the night, and while it was still extremely spicy, the sweetness of the “ponzu” sauce and creaminess of the cream cheese helped to tone it down more than it had been in the spicy tuna.

All in all there were things I did like and things I didn’t like. What I did like was their relatively upscale, zen decor and to-the-point menu that gives me the impression that they are concentrating on their cuisine to give the customers their best. Also, I loved my appetizer and most of the sushi was pretty good. What I didn’t like was the lopsided service—I think we had two waiters who weren’t in sync with each other in watching our table, but in the end we got what we wanted and needed. Also, I think the fish could have been a little colder and a little fresher, though it was much more fresh than other places in town—and that ground tuna, that’s a no-no in my book. Finally, one small thing that really irked me were the chopsticks. The restaurant was coming across as upscale and zen, yet the chopsticks were the wooden kind that you have to break apart. This really turned me off since it seemed they should have been metal or lacquered; the wooden ones were very down scale and proved hard to use with sushi—plus I can’t stand when I can taste the wood against the flavor of the food in my mouth.

Overall, I’d come back to get sushi, and I am definitely going back soon to try the hibachi, which I’ll update the site about. I think the pro’s outweighed the cons at Zuki. I’ll be back and hope to see you there.

**Update:* See our followup review on the hibachi dinner.

Zuki is located at 1448 N. Green River Rd., behind Rafferty’s. (812) 477-ZUKI. Mon-Sat 11am-2pm, 4pm-10pm; Sun 11am-9pm.

This week we visited a Mexican restaurant that has been open a couple years, but is tucked away at the end of South Green River, so it is still somewhat of a hide away. La Cabana offers Evansville a taste of what real Mexican food is about.

From the outside, it looks like a dive. The restaurant is tucked away in a tiny spot in a mostly vacated strip mall. La Cabana is a very small restaurant with a Mexican grocery next door. It has enough room for both a bar and a dining area. The decoration is in the style of exactly what one would think of a dusty, run-down restaurant in a ghost town in Mexico. The decor isn’t over done, and in fact makes you feel like you are really there and about to be served truly authentic Mexican food.

We ordered the Huevos con Chorizo, Chicken Chimichanga, and Burrito Special. Huevos con Chorizo is eggs scrambled with a Mexican sausage, served with rice, beans, and tortillas (I suggest corn tortillas). This came out looking and tasting delicious, the eggs and chorizo were cooked more in an omelet style and then chopped and tasted great. A chimichanga is a fried burrito-creating a crispy shell around the meat. This was filled with tons of shredded chicken and was eaten before I could even try a bite-clearly very tasty. The Burrito Special said it was served with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream, but the tomato turned out to be pico de gallo to our dining partner’s dismay since he cannot eat onions. That was a minor setback in what turned out to be an excellent dining experience.

The menu offers much more than your typical Mexican restaurant-more than just chimichangas, tacos, enchiladas, fajitas. Authentic, but not so typical fares are offered such as Caldo Sieta Mares (seven seas soup), Hunchinango Al Mojo De Ajo (whole red snapper marinated in garlic sauce), Tostadas de Ceviche (fish cooked in lemon), Tacos al Pastor, or Mole Special (chicken with mole sauce).

I greatly enjoyed this new find, and I would recommend it highly to others. There is so much different food there that it is a great place to go to find some Mexican food that you won’t easily find elsewhere in Evansville. The atmosphere in the restaurant also really drew me more into wanting to be there and find out how the food would be. Go out and try it!

La Cabana is located at 821 Green River Rd. (812) 477-3351. Mon-Thurs 11am-9:30pm, Fri & Sat 11am-10:30pm, Sunday 11am-9pm.

We bring you something we have been wanting to review for a long time: Cork ‘n Cleaver. The Cork has become a staple in Evansville; more so for the business crowd, but is a treat for the rest of us.

The Cork is interesting in that the initial impression of the building gives off a Southwest feel, but upon entering, it starts to feel a bit more up-scale pub-like. Of course, it keeps the southwest vibe by relying heavily on beef and hearty entrees. There is plenty of chicken and seafood to go around, but steaks are their specialties. The lights are very dim no matter the time of the day, the tables or booths are comfortable but with a rustic feel, and most interestingly of all, the menu is actually written on a cleaver (dull of course).

The table started out ordering cups of cream of broccoli or tomato garlic soup. Both were a different take on what would be perceived as the original. They were good, but extremely thick and creamy. I would have liked more broccoli in mine. Myself and another ordered one of the daily specials: Artichoke Pesto Tilapia served with rice. The fish was cooked well, not over done, and the topping was extremely large chunks of artichoke lightly coated in pesto. Very good, though the artichokes were a bit difficult to eat due to the size. Another member of the party ordered the Cork Burger which came out slightly too done to her tastes, but ended up being very tasty all the same. Finally ordered was the Hawaiian Pecan Crusted Chicken. This came out to rave reviews that it had a perfect sweetness and slight crunch. None of us could help getting dessert, and we all ordered creme brulee. It comes in a very tiny personal dish, almost only big enough for a few bites. That left me wanting more. While it was caramelized correctly, it definitely did not seem to be as warm as it should be, which was a disappointment.

Overall, the experience was good, although I wish I could have seen my dining partners a bit better - it was so dark inside. The creme brulee tasted great but was too cold. Small snags to be sure, the food here is good, and there are always daily specials that are different-not reoccurring-and almost always delicious. Overall I do recommend Cork ‘n Cleaver, but it is a bit pricy, so save it for a special occasion like a birthday or upcoming Valentines day.

Cork ‘n Cleaver is located at 650 S. Hebron Ave. (812) 479-6974. Lunch Mon-Fri 11am-2pm, Dinner daily after 5pm.

This week my dining partner and I visited a restaurant more different than our usual reviews: Vietnamese Cuisine Restaurant. You guessed it; it’s a restaurant that serves Vietnamese food! It is tucked just behind Putt-Putt next to Kitchen Affairs on Vogel Road.

Entering, we were immediately enthusiastically greeted by the waitress, and presumably co-owner. At the time, only one other customer was there, but through our meal several more came to dine-in and get carry-out. The restaurant is plain, yet comfortable. The walls are decorated with various framed artworks particular to Vietnam, as well as two small murals. There are plenty of tables and booths, but not over crowded. Though I did notice several space heaters out in the open, which threw me off a bit.

The menu is broken down primarily into noodle, rice, or specialty dishes. I enjoyed that since it helps making your choice easier when you are not very familiar with this style of cuisine. Most entrees are of one of several flavorings: ginger, lemongrass, or curry. We started with spring rolls, which were stuffed with shrimp, pork, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, and mint served with a peanut sauce for dipping. These were very much enjoyed, in part because they were so refreshing. I chose the Bun Tofu Xao Chay: sliced tofu over noodles and mixed vegetables, on the side came a tart sauce to pour over it. I found the flavors to be too much for me, I think in part due to the sauce poured over it and strong emphasis on the lemongrass. However, I have tended to find that I am not one who very fond of Southeast Asian food in general; therefore, I won’t totally rule it out for others who may enjoy these flavors. My dining partner decided on the Ga Xao Xa Ot, which is sliced chicken served with saut’eed lemongrass and vegetables next to rice. Unlike me, he greatly enjoyed his dish and scarfed it down.

I most enjoyed the service as opposed to the food, while he really enjoyed the food. I can say my dislike of the food stems from my inability to eat the food of Southeast Asia, therefore I don’t hold it against the restaurant, since I’m sure those who enjoy this region’s food will enjoy these flavors. I must mention the excellent prices: large plates and bowls each for $6.99, and 2 spring rolls for $3.50. Also the service was excellent, and the food came out freshly prepared in a very timely manner. While I won’t be going back because of my personal tastes, I do support fans of this regions food to go try it out if you haven’t already.

Vietnamese Cuisine Restaurant is located at 4602 Vogel Road. (812) 491-1884. Tues-Thurs, Sun 11am-8pm, Fri & Sat 11am-9pm, closed Mon.

A new place some of you may not have heard of or seen yet is Café 111, tucked behind Brinker’s at Green River and the Lloyd. While not entirely different from some of the other Cafés around town, it does have it’s own zing.

The space inside is open, not forced at all. The glass tables are standard or high-top with plush green seat, and green seems to be the color of choice here, as the entire back wall is painted green as well. You’ll notice the wall to your left has a large mural on it that seems to try to place the Café in old-Paris or something similar. The set up is that of a standard Café. Against the back wall there is a counter from which you order at one end-there are a few bowls of different salads in the case-and move down to the other end to pay and pick up your food. The menu is large and hung on the wall, but to my dismay, without having perfect vision, you can only read the name of the food item, but not any of the details about it. In fact, I had to have my dining partner read it for me even once I was at the counter.

The majority of the menu consists of sandwiches and salads, though there is a small breakfast menu. My dining partner ordered the Roasted Chicken with Tomato Pesto, which, besides the obvious, included roasted red peppers, grilled onions, fresh baby spinach, and provolone cheese. It was served with a pickle spear and chips. I choose the Lunch Combo. With this you pick two of the following for $6.50 : 1/2 sandwich, 1/2 salad, cup of soup, or side. I decided on half the Smoked Turkey Sandwich (including sharp Vermont cheddar and sliced granny smith apples) with the White Chili soup of the day. Other options tend to be familiar sandwiches with a twist, like a BLT with avocado or chicken salad sandwich using raspberry mayonnaise. Salads include traditionals like Greek or Caesar, and nontraditionals like Pear or Asian with Miso Dressing.

We both agreed our food was good, but nothing special. In fact, I would have preferred a little more seasoning in both my soup and sandwich. Also, their whole assembly line system seemed a little out of whack. There were enough people behind the counter, but it appeared not all had a job to do, and others weren’t entirely sure how to work the panini presses. Moreover, they did not get food out to customers in order. People ordering after someone else would get their food first, despite what it was. Another example is a couple who ordered together, but their food came out separately-his more than 5 minutes after hers, while other people ordering after him sometimes got their meals immediately. I even had to wait 10 minutes.

I would go back again, but not if I had to hurry. The food is good, but nothing special stands out, and it tends to need slightly more seasoning.

Café 111 is located at 111 S. Green River Rd, Suite D, behind Brinker’s. (812) 401-8111. Mon-Fri 7am-2:30 pm.

It’s Evansville food reviews has been a bit on a hiatus lately, and we apologize for that. We return to you with a review of a new addition to Evansville, L.A. Grill & Ale House. This restaurant offers a take on the health craze that has swept the nation by offering a “healthy” (LA Grill) and “unhealthy” (Ale House) side to the menu.

Several of us ventured out there the other night to try this new restaurant after having driven past many times. The d’ecor is a take on modern-deco. The color scheme is black, red, and blue with waves of silver around the walls and seats. The booth and high top filled bar is also surrounded by televisions continuously tuned into ESPN. The lighting is relatively dim and the music seems just a notch too loud, but enjoyable artists.

As mentioned, there are two sides to the menu, and it’s more literal than it seems-you start on one side of the menu and actually flip it over upside down to get to the other side. It’s a great idea in that people can easily compromise on what they want to eat by having two full menus of healthy and not-so-healthy food. The healthy side even lists each dishes proteins, carbohydrates, fat, and calories. Dr. Joe Klemczewski offers his expertise to L.A. Grill & Ale House in developing tasty food that can fit any health nut’s diet.

When greeted by our waitress, we were served a complimentary basket of carrot curls, thin slices of carrots that are fried like chips. Surprisingly it was a fresh take on the standard chips and dip that tends to come with meals at many restaurants. Our party ordered two healthy items and one ale house item. The Crab Mango Wrap was a crab salad with mango, cilantro, and red onions wrapped in a spinach wrap served with carrot curls. The Tropical Beach Salad was shrimp with mango, pineapple, strawberry, and mandarin oranges over lettuce with a sugar free, low carb, dairy free Tangerine Dream Dressing. Both were very much enjoyed and recommended, one has even been gotten a second time since the initial visit. From the other side of the menu, the Dream Burger was ordered. This came out a perfect medium, pink throughout, topped with Fried onion straws, saut’eed mushrooms, applewood bacon, swiss cheese and special sauce as well as the standard lettuce, tomato, and red onion. This burger was to die for. Cooked perfectly and there couldn’t have been a better match of toppings.

We had an excellent experience at this new Evansville restaurant and have since been back. I think the restaurant is still getting the “new restaurant quirks out,” as family who went that same night didn’t enjoy their food at all. They said their food was tasteless, dried out, and fries burnt black. I have had two great experiences at this location, so recommend it, but due to hearing a couple questionable to negative comments, try it at your own risk.

L.A. Grill & Ale House is located at 7221 E. Indiana, just next to The Outback. (812) 491-2337. Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm.

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, people will be ramping up their ovens and stoves with mounds upon mounds of food. I’m not much for the holiday since I’m a light eater, but I know most everyone else in the world indulges themselves on turkey, dressing and pie.

I appreciate a good pumpkin pie, but the whole turkey and dressing thing is not for me. Maybe I’m missing out on the real good food of Thanksgiving. What dish should I be sticking on the Thanksgiving table tomorrow?

If you have a favorite recipe I have to know about, tell us in the comments.

photo courtesy of xybermatthew